Ottawa police seeing ‘horrendous increase’ of speeders, stunt drivers

If you’re noticing more speeders and stunt drivers on Ottawa’s roadways, it’s not your imagination — Ottawa police say they, too, have seen a “horrendous increase” in stunt driving charges laid in 2021.

“Statistics show we’ve definitely got an issue,” Sgt. Rob Cairns of the Ottawa Police Service’s traffic escort unit told the Sam Laprade Show Friday. “In 2017, throughout the whole year, we only had 74 stunt driving charges laid; in 2020 we saw 455 for the whole year; and just this year to date we’re up to 340 as of [Friday].”

Among the issues are groups of drivers who meet up for stunt driving events.

Cairns says the OPS has had numerous complaints both this year and last.

It was the reason for instigating Operation NoiseMaker, which specifically targets the modified vehicle crew (as Cairns calls them).

“Generally, performance is enhanced and [drivers] think they have a right to take these noisy vehicles on the road and treat roads like racetracks — and we’re trying to stop that.”

The Ontario government, too, is seeing this as an issue and has made changes to legislation to impose steeper penalties through the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act — or MOMs Act.

The act decreases the threshold for stunt driving on municipal streets to 40 km/h over the speed limit, instead of 50 km/h.

This means the motorists caught going 40 km/h over the speed limit with a speed limit of 80 km/h or less can be slapped with stunt driving charges (it used to be 50 km/h or more on a residential street).

“The province understands there is an issue and that’s why as from July 1, changes [to legislation] came into effect,” Cairns explained. “They increased the road impound of the vehicle from seven days to 14 days and they’ve introduced this lower speed threshold.”

And starting in September, the province is also introducing an extension on the driving license suspension to 30 days, up from the previous seven days.

But being charged with a speeding or stunt driving infraction doesn’t only mean legal repercussions, Cairns says there is also the financial aspect of the situation to consider.

The driver, Cairns points out, is responsible for the impound charges and the vehicle towing. Their ability to get to work is impeded, and not to mention their insurance installments increase — and that’s even if an insurance company will agree to take them on.

“You’re going to be charged a premium that’s going to be through the roof,” Cairns said.

The most devastating impact, though, are the casualties — fellow drivers, pedestrians and cyclists — that result from such incidents Cairns added.

“If you want to see what your vehicle does, take it out to a racetrack and give them some of your business,” he said. “The road is no place to treat the roads as a racetrack. It’s mindless. It’s crazy.”